Neck-yoke center.



n. H LILIDU .L

NECK YOKE CENTER.

APPLICATION FILED 111:0. so, 1910.

Patented Aug. 22, 1911.

' eases- COLUMBIA PLANDORAPM 60., WASHINGTON n. c.

AXEL NELSON, OF GROVE CITY, MINNESOTA.

' NECK-YOKE CENTER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 22, 1911.

Application filed DecemberBO, 1910. Serial No. 600,136.

T 0 all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, AXEL NELSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at Grove City, in the county of Meeker and State of Minnesota, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Neck-Yoke Centers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to neckyoke centers, or the member attached to the, center of wagon neckyokes and having connected therewith means for the reception of the wagon tongue to hold the same above the ground between the horses when they are properly hitched to the wagon.

A primary object of my invention is to provide a device of this character which can readily be attached to or removed from the neckyoke without the necessity of driving said device thereon or of specially preparing or shaping the neckyoke to cause the same to fit into the device wit-h any particular degree of snugness.

A further object of my invention is to provide a center having a tongue piece capable of both horizontal and vertical pivotal movement, and to construct such pivots and arrange them in bearings so that the structure will be not only strong and durable but not liable to wear loose. The result of this will be that the tongue will always be held in such a manner that the neckyoke center will respond to every movement thereof, but steadily with no rattling or wear on the bearing tip of the tongue.

Another object of my invention is to pro vide a neckyoke center with a safety device, whereby the tongue is so held that it cannot come free from the holding member and drop to the ground, even if the harness tugs should break or become unhooked, or if the doubletree or swingletrees to which the horses are fastened should break or come loose, so that in such an event the neckyoke will still hold up and control the tongue and by that means the vehicle to which it is attached and thus prevent accident.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear in connection with the detailed description thereof, and will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, which illustrate one form of my invention,-Figure 1 is a front view with the parts in the position which they assume when the neckyoke is up and the wagon tongue in place. Fig. 2 is a section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view,

partly in section, of the pivoted tongueholding member. Fig. 4 is a top plan of a portion of my device. Figs. 5 and 6 are top views, partly in section, showing the tongueholding member in different positions relative to the neckyoke center frame.

A frame piece 1 is provided with three or more ears 2 spaced apart to receive therebetween pairs of ears 3 and 4:, respectively, said ears 3 being attached to a sect-ion 5 and the ears 4 to a section 6 of a tubular ferrule or neckyoke holder, a pin or pintle 7 extending through openings in said ears so that the parts 5 and 6 of said ferrule are each independently hinged to the frame piece 1. Upon part 5 is an upstanding flange member 8 adapted to cooperate with a similar member 9 upon the part 6 when the said parts are closed together, as shown in Fig. 2, screw bolts 10 being provided to secure the members 5 and 6 in their closed position about a neckyoke 11, which neckyoke is secured from longitudinal movement in the ferrule by means of a screw 12, as shown in Fig. 2. It will thus be seen that this arrangement provides means of ready attachment of the neckyoke center to any neckyoke, since it is simply necessary to clasp the hinge sections 5 and 6 about the neckyoke and secure said sections together by the screw bolts 10, the operation of removing the neckyoke from the ferrule being equally simple.

The frame piece 1 is provided with a circular bearing of a swiveling tongue member 15, the lower bearing for said member being a similar opening 16 formed in a projection 17 of a ring piece 18 secured by screw bolts 19 to the piece 1, the member 15 being assembled in these bearings at the time that the ring piece 18 is attached to the frame piece 1. Said ring piece 18 is of oblong shape, as clearly shown in Fig. 1 and carries the projection 17 by means of a U-shaped depending portion 20, as clearly shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The purpose of forming the ring member of oblong shape and providing it with the depending portion 20 is to permit the introduction therein of a catch 21 on a tongue 22, as shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2,'the neckyoke and ring piece 18 being swung so that said catch is introduced the long way of the ring piece, and when the parts are returned to normal position, that is, the position when the neckyoke is horiopening 13 to form the upper zontal, as is the case when it is harnessed to the horses, the catch 21 will be securely held by the ring piece 18 and cannot be drawn therefrom as long as said neckyoke is held harnessed to the horses.

The tongue-holding piece 15 is provided with tubular bearing extensions 23 and 24;, respectively, to seat in the bearing 13 of the frame piece 1 and the bearing 16 of the ring piece 18; Said bearing members 23 and 24E may seat directly in the bearings 13 and 16, or said bearings may be provided with bushing rings 25, as shown in Figs. 1 and 5, as desired. Bearing members 23 and 24: of the tongue-holding piece 15 are formed to receive therein screw bolts 26, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 3, said bolts being secured therein by nuts 27 and washers 28 extending outside of the bearings 13 and 16 to hold the swiveled member 15 securely between the plate 1 and extension 17. The tongue-holding swiveled member 15 is provided with a lining ring 29 of leather or other material, as desired, secured to the member 15 by rivets 30. It will thus be seen that the member 15 is held between the plate 1 and extension 17 of the ring piece 18 so as to have perfect swiveling movement therein, but that all of the bearing action comes on the large tubular extensions 23 and 24 with the result that said member is not only held for swiveling action very steadily but that the wear on the bearing extensions will be so slight as to be practically negligible so that the bearings will not become loose to permit rattling which so quickly wears out and destroys the swiveling connection of neckyoke centers as previously constructed.

The operation and manner of use of my device has been given in connection with the detailed description thereof and can be readily understood. The different parts'thereof may be cast of malleable iron or other material, as desired, and from the nature and manner of connection of said parts may be easily assembled to form my complete article.

I claim:

1. A neckyoke center comprising a frame piece, a split ferrule pivoted thereto, the parts of said ferrule being relatively movable to spread the ferrule for the reception of the neckyoke, means for'securing the ferrule on the neckyoke, a ring carried by said frame piece, an extension on said ring having a bearing alining with a similar bearing in the frame piece, and means for holding the wagon tongue pivotally mounted in said bearings.

2. A neckyoke center comprising a frame piece, a split ferrule each part of which is independently hinged to the frame piece so Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents.

that the ferrule may be spread for the reception of the neckyoke, a flange on each member of the ferrule cooperating when the ferrule is closed, means to secure said flanges together to hold the ferrule clasped to the neckyoke, aring carried by said frame piece, an extension on said ring providing a safety lock for a catch on the wagon tongue and having a bearing alining with a similar bearing in the frame piece, and a tongueholding member pivotally secured in said bearings.

3. A neckyoke center comprising a frame piece, means pivoted thereto for connection with the neckyoke, a ring connected to said frame piece having an attached extension provided with a circular bearing, a similar bearing in the frame piece alining therewith, a tongue-holding member provided with tubular bearing extensions seated in said bearings, and means held within said bearing extensions by which the same are held from longitudinal movement in said bearings.

4. A neckyoke center comprising a frame piece, means pivoted thereto for connection with the neckyoke, an oblong ring carried by said frame piece with its longer axis parallel therewith, a member depending from the lower side of said ring piece and forming a safety lock for a catch on the wagon-tongue when the same is positioned in the neckyoke, an extension from said depending member having therein a tubular bearing alining with a similar bearing in the frame piece, and a tongue-holding member mounted for swiveling movement in said bearings.

5. A neckyoke center comprising a frame piece, expansible means pivoted thereto for connection with the neckyoke, an oblong ring carried by said frame piece with its longer axis parallel therewith, a member de: pending from the lower side of said ring piece and forming a safety lock for 'a catch on the wagon-tongue when the same is positioned in the neckyoke, an extension from said depending member having therein a tubular bearing alining witha similar bearing in the frame piece, a circular tongueholding member, tubular bearing extensions thereof seated in said bearings, screw bolts within said extensions extending outwardly therefrom and having nuts screwedthereon to hold said bearing extensions from longitudinal movement in said bearings. and' a lining ring within said tongue-holding member.

AXEL NELSON.

Witnesses:

F. A. WHITELEY, H. A. BOWMAN.

Washington, D. C. 

